Connelly: The near wipeout of Republicans in King County

U.S. Rep.-elect Kim Schrier captured a U.S. House seat held by Republicans for 38 years. King County votes did it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

U.S. Rep.-elect Kim Schrier captured a U.S. House seat held by Republicans for 38 years. King County votes did it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP

Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP

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U.S. Rep.-elect Kim Schrier captured a U.S. House seat held by Republicans for 38 years. King County votes did it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

U.S. Rep.-elect Kim Schrier captured a U.S. House seat held by Republicans for 38 years. King County votes did it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP

Connelly: The near wipeout of Republicans in King County

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King County has become a one-party stronghold that is rapidly turning Washington into a one-party state.

Once a training ground for Republican governors, Congress members and Senators, the state's largest county experienced a near wipe-out of the party in this year's mid-term election. The carnage:

--Democrats captured the lone Republican congressional district located largely in King County: The 8th District had been in Republican hands since it was created in 1980, held successively by Rod Chandler, Jennifer Dunn and Dave Reichert.

U.S. Rep.-elect Kim Schrier lost to Dino Rossi in Pierce, Kittitas, Douglas and Chelan Counties, but rolled to victory on King County strength. It extended all the way to Rossi's neighborhood. Rossi has now lost four races for higher office thanks to his home county.

--Republicans lost two of their three remaining State Senate seats in King County with Sens. Mark Miloscia, R-30, and Joe Fain, R-47, going down to defeat. They lost control of the Senate with defeat in the 45th district (Kirkland-Redmond) in a special election last year.

The three Senate seats were all "flipped" by Democratic women.

--The GOP lost three of its remaining seats in the state House of Representatives, suffering particular pain with the defeat of highly regarded candidates in the 5th District of east King County. A third House loss took place in the 47th District, where Fain was going under.

--The Democrats' margins in some statewide races have become eye-popping. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., squeaked into the Senate in 2000 thanks to a 150,000-vote King County margin over incumbent GOP Sen. Slade Gorton. She won a fourth term this year, taking King County by 460,000 votes.

Growth is a big factor. It has transformed politics on the Eastside: Fast-growing 'burbs along the Interstate-90 corridor were crucial in sending Schrier to Congress. Not even a post-2010 gerrymander -- adding Republican counties in Central Washington -- could keep the 8th District from flipping.

Donald Trump has helped Republicans in Washington's "Rust Belt." The 45th president carried Pacific and Grays Harbor Counties, the only two places in the Evergreen State that voted for Democrat George McGovern long ago in 1972.

Grays Harbor went for Republican Susan Hutchison in this year's Senate race, but the votes are in Central Puget Sound.

They have run against Seattle, even featuring the statue of Lenin in Fremont during the 45th District Senate campaign last year. The Susan Hutchison stump speech was filled with tales of a dirty city, and descriptions of Kashama Sawant as "the titular head of the Seattle City Council."

A quarter century ago, Sen. Gorton adopted what was nicknamed the "boa constrictor" strategy, namely to squeeze Seattle by building up Republican majorities elsewhere in the state. A favorite Gorton line at Lincoln Day dinners was reciting how he won his Senate seat while losing King County.

It did work this year in defeating Initiative 1631, the carbon tax, which won in King County but lost in 36 of 39 counties. Rejection of the initiative was a big defeat for Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in a big Democratic year.

In partisan races, however, King County is to big to be squeezed. Even in the 2012 race for Governor, however, when Republicans fielded an attractive nominee -- Rob McKenna -- votes in King County (particularly in Seattle) were just too much to overcome.

Washington remains a "purple" state in some respects, witness rejection of any measure that even hints of a state income tax.

Otherwise, in statewide contests, King County has turned the Evergreen State solid blue. The Democrats bolstered their campaign this year with a massive, well-crafted volunteer effort.

The Republicans can win around the edges, but they will lose statewide unless a means is found to break back into the state's main population centers.

Columnist Joel Connelly has written about politics for the P-I since 1973.